


Think Happy Thoughts

by quiet__tiger



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Comedy, Gen, High School, drama club
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 04:17:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10801521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiet__tiger/pseuds/quiet__tiger
Summary: Tim took on the activity from Hell: performing in his school's musical.





	Think Happy Thoughts

**Author's Note:**

> Canon-wise, this takes place some time after Tim's dad dies.
> 
> Prompt: "In Too Deep."
> 
> Originally posted to Livejournal 10th-Dec-2009.

Tim hated his costume.

The tights were scratchy.

The tunic was a bit too snug in some places.

The wires… Yeah, he wasn’t a fan of them.

And none of that was related to the _singing_ …

He didn’t care if he needed extracurricular activities for his college applications. He was never acting in a play again.

Especially not _Peter Pan_.

While he hadn’t seen Dick’s face when he told him about it over the phone, he could imagine the raised eyebrows and barely hidden—or not hidden at all—grin. Finally Dick did start laughing. As did the members of the Titans when he’d explained why he’d miss a few weekends. Alfred was supportive, while Bruce hadn’t been happy _at all_.

But good grades might not be enough to get Tim where he wanted to go with his education. Well-rounded kids were in, and smart kids with no visible hobbies were frowned upon. Or so Tim had been told by his guidance counselor.

Tim just hadn’t realized how much _work_ being in the school musical would be. Between lines and choreography and blocking and endless rehearsals and idiots forgetting their lines and the school show-off upset that Tim had walked into the lead role… Yeah, the fun had long since leaked out of being in the play.

As he got lowered to the floor to take off the harness, he scowled at his luck. He’d planned on being on the tech crew. Set up microphones, maybe run sound or help with the lights. Nothing to memorize, no reason to stay late. He could do that in his sleep almost. He worked a lot harder for Batman.

But no… The lighting director had been using him to check the lighting, and the stage manager had asked Tim to stand in and help with blocking. Somehow that led to him reading lines, and then the kid playing Peter had gotten mono. Somehow, because Tim could read, the director asked if he could sing, not that Peter Pan needed to be great at it, and then… Tim hated being short. Some of his Lost Boys were taller than he was. But apparently he looked like a good Peter.

He blamed Dick for the comfort in tights.

Someone calling his name distracted Tim from his thoughts. “Smile. Happy thoughts make you fly. Scowling isn’t going to sell this to the audience.”

He waited until the stage manager turned her back, and leveled a nasty glare at her. The girl playing Wendy giggled and smiled sympathetically.

Tim had been okay with things until the costume fittings. But being in the costume made him think of Dick and being Robin and the work he was missing with the Titans and how Bruce was angry he wasn’t able to go on patrol every night, and how his eating habits _sucked_ staying late at school every night.

He also hadn’t thought about how much training he’d have to miss, and now he was worried his form would be off when he got back to work on patrols. He hoped it would be like riding a bike, and his body hadn’t forgotten how to knock a guy out by barely touching him.

On the other hand, he’d had to back off significantly during his first “real” sword fight with Captain Hook. He’d almost leveled the kid playing the villain before he made himself remember that he was pretending to fight, that the blonde kid with the big teeth wasn’t an actual criminal trying to take him down. He was just a kid who liked to act. He’d been having a great time choreographing the scene until Tim almost stabbed him for real.

Basically over the last couple of months Tim had had to tone down his ability to fight, and play up his discomfort over the costume. It really wouldn’t do to have the other guys thinking he enjoyed his tights.

He’d also had to retrain his body how to stay balanced in the harness. He was used to one cable from his hands or attached to his belt, not two from his back. The arc of the cables was just all wrong and he hoped his wince wasn’t too visible.

Sometimes it was just so hard trying to play a regular student trying to act.

The director called for places for the dress rehearsal, and Tim plastered a “happy thoughts” grin on his face while he was helped out of the harness to go backstage. He thought he deserved a damn Tony for this experience.

The Fates owed him big.

~*~

Throughout the long period of rehearsals, Tim had thought the worst part about being Peter Pan would be slightly slipped grades from a lack of study time, or antagonizing remarks or actions from the “theater” kids who were jealous they weren’t the lead role, or someone realizing he was Robin (thank God he didn’t go the pixie boots route with his costume), or someone seeing his various scars during costume changes or something else, or him missing something important with Batman or the Titans because he had to be at all those rehearsals.

It was a lot to worry about and he’d been on edge for weeks because of it all. A few months prior and he hadn’t thought his life could be more stressful, but here it was. High school drama and the risk of everything crashing down around him.

But no.

That was all easy compared to what faced him opening night.

While foolishly peeking through the curtain, his eyes had zeroed in on way too many familiar faces in the crowd.

Near the front were Bruce, Alfred, Dick, and Babs. And then towards the back… Kon, Bart, and Cassie. Kon was eating something, and Bart looked fidgety already.

“Oh God.”

“What’s wrong?” Kandace, the girl playing Wendy, had come up behind him. He suspected she _liked_ him, and yeah, he _really_ didn’t need that right now.

“My, um, guardian and his family are here.”

“So?”

“I figured they wouldn’t be able to come.”

“You’re Peter Pan! Of course they’d come!” She smiled at him, and it turned devilish. “At the very least to get a glimpse of you in tights!”

Yeah. Good thing they made time to see _that_. Tim was grateful at that moment for his ability to minimize his display of emotion, because he knew he’d be blushing guiltily.

“I guess I’m just nervous.” And he was for some reason. It wasn’t that he might forget his lines, because he’d had to learn a lot more difficult stuff on a lot shorter notice. It wasn’t the outfit, obviously. It wasn’t even the singing; apparently he was decent at that.

But maybe… If he blew tonight, if it was horrible, then he’d wasted the last three months of his life. He’d have killed himself for no reason. Fallen behind in training and patrol and everything for nothing, and Bruce, Dick, _everyone_ would be disappointed in him. Tim was the Boy Wonder. If he couldn’t do this, he wasn’t sure how everyone would behave around him, think of him.

It was an irrational fear, maybe, but he couldn’t will it away.

And it wasn’t like he could back out _now_. The curtain would be going up in fifteen minutes. He’d be in that damn harness, unable to escape, not that he would if he could. He had a job to do. He had to be the best Peter Pan his school had ever seen.

No one had set him to that standard, but who was he if he didn’t push himself to be the best? He certainly wouldn’t be Tim, and definitely not Robin.

How did his self worth become related to green tights and a tunic that weren’t even Robin’s?

Taking a deep breath, he turned back to Kandace. “I guess we should go get ready. Anything you want to run through before we have to get in place?”

“Too bad I don’t get to give you a real kiss we could practice.” She smiled cheekily before she walked away into the wings.

Tim stifled his groan and dropped his head before following her.

When the weekend was over, he was going to sleep for a week.

~*~

Grinning broadly, Tim took his last curtain call. He bowed again, wishing the audience would shut the hell up already and just let him get the hell off the stage so he could go home. But no, he was so fantastically amazing they wouldn’t stop applauding.

During his last bow he felt a slight breeze, and upon raising his head he saw a bouquet of flowers in front of him. _For the love of…_ Well. At least Bart hadn’t dropped them off at regular speed. He didn’t need anyone thinking Bart was his boyfriend.

Finally, blessedly, the audience’s applause started to die down, and the cast was allowed to exit the stage. Tim was sweaty and exhausted and he might have strained a muscle pretending to fight Captain Hook. He just wanted to go _home_ , get some sleep, and then finish this weekend of performances so he could start getting his life back together on Monday.

Never had he ever thought he’d look forward to a _Monday_.

He’d gotten as far as changing out of his costume and escaping into the hallway before he was accosted by his friends. Kon punched him in the arm, Cassie hugged him, and Bart rambled questions about the playcostumeactingcharactersactorsflyingplotholes whatever.

Kon gave Bart a shove. “Shut up, Bart. Tim, you were good. Not that I know anything about plays, but it was good.”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to him. You weren’t good, you were great. I know it was just a play, and I know you and everything, but I got really into it. I was clapping _so hard_ to bring Tink back to life! And if you heard cheering when you fed Hook to the crocodile, well…” She blushed. “You did a great job.”

Trying not to blush himself, Tim answered, “I was okay. I really just wanted to get it over with. I want to get back to my regular life, you know?”

Everyone nodded. “Oh, and Bart?” Yellow eyes widened encouragingly. “Thanks for the flowers.”

Beaming at him, Bart answered, “You deserved them.”

Tim was going to answer, but then his other group of fans came around the corner. “Uh oh. Bruce.”

The Titans turned around, then quickly excused themselves and told Tim they’d see him at the Tower the following weekend. That left no one between Tim and Bruce, and Tim was once again nervous as to what Bruce thought of the play. He wasn’t sure he could handle Bruce being disappointed in his work. It was never easy to handle. But if he hadn’t made up for Bruce being angry at him for being in the play in the first place…

But then, as Bruce got closer… He smiled. He actually _smiled_ , and not a stupid fake Brucie cocktail party smile. A real Bruce smile. Tim felt something in him loosen in relief.

Once he was in range, Bruce clapped him on the shoulder. “Good job, Tim.”

“I didn’t even know you’d be here.”

After a handshake that pulled him into a hug, Dick told him, “Of course we’d be here. Where else would we be?”

“Um…”

Nodding slightly, Babs answered, “It’s being taken care of.” Cass and Helena, no doubt. Tim was glad they had such a large crew to fall back on.

“You really liked the play?”

“Master Tim, you were wonderful. The best Peter I’ve ever seen.” Coming from Alfred, that meant a lot. Tim couldn’t hide his grin.

Babs exclaimed, “Tim! You were great! Don’t be modest! It was obvious you worked hard, and I know how much you’ve missed everything.” She meant patrol, of course.

Dick leaned in close so he could say softly, “I bet you thought you’d be free of the tights for a couple months, too.”

“Just shows how ridiculous my life is, really.”

From behind him, Tim heard Kandace yell, “Tim! Come on, cast party!”

He was about to turn and decline, but Bruce told him, “Go. You deserve to have fun and unwind after your work. Everything can wait.”

“Are you sure? I know I’ve been--”

Exasperated, Dick told him, “Go! Party! Enjoy being in high school.” He leaned in close again. “And enjoy Wendy there.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Dick!”

But Tim did as he was told and went to enjoy the cast party. There was such a weight off his back now that he knew everyone liked his performance. Investing all of himself into the role had turned out okay after all, and maybe it was good to step back from Robin to play a real kid for a while.

Besides, he only had a couple more performances to do, and then he was free.

~*~

Make that a couple more plus one, because the next weekend his friends made him do an encore for the Titans who couldn’t make the original performances. Cassie played Wendy, Kon was Captain Hook, and Bart filled in all the other roles.

The speedster’s favorite was definitely Tink. He was even pretty good at flitting with the light.

Tim may have woken a sleeping acting demon within Bart.

Talk about getting in over his head.


End file.
